Let’s think about complex emotions that don’t have words to express them, and then create words for these emotions.

Here are some emotions identified by John Koenig:

a glimpse of what may have been

the moment a conversation becomes real and alive

feature of modern society that suddenly strikes you as absurd and grotesque

the frustration of being stuck in just one body, that inhabits only one place at a time

the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it

the awareness of how little of the world you’ll experience

the desire that memory could flow backward

the fear that everything has already been done

Sometimes it feels like your life is flashing before your eyes, but it’s actually the opposite: you’re thinking forward, to all the things you haven’t done, the places you intend to visit, the goals you’ll get around to…

the awareness of the smallness of your perspective

a kind of melancholic trance in which you become absorbed in vivid sensory details

the ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye, which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable

the realisation that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense any more

the desire to care less about things—to loosen your grip on your life, to stop glancing behind you every few steps, afraid that someone will snatch it from you before you reach the end zone

During our meeting we had a go at creating our own words for different emotions.

Declan Saunders:

Aralia: The imprint of a forgotten memory

Burrin: The comfort of being alone

Droldent: Being cold on the inside even though you are warm on the outside (when you step inside from the cold)

Jenzen Yau, Haotian Yang, Julien Finti:

Jeon: Post holiday depression

David Ly:

Fain : The awareness of how little of the world you will experience

Alex Cheriyan and Bernard Tso:

Jekus – The feeling of trying to convey a meaning or feeling that does not have a word

Valare – The desire to step out of your life for a period of time and have somebody else take over

Falatious – The feeling of thinking that nothing you do will have much of an impact in this world

Nillatts – The feeling that you think you will die with no one loving you

Edward Jin:

Nilia: A state of intense concentration, where you are aware of nothing except for the task at hand

Thanks everyone, for giving this a go. Looks like you enjoyed the challenge – and the doughnuts.